KUCHING, Dec 19 By Peter Sibon

Calls for Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik to either relinguish his post or apologise to Sarawakians for his “medan dakwah” statement have gathered pace. When answering a question in Parliament recently, Maszlee appealed to religious teachers from Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah to continue serving in Sabah and Sarawak rather than seeking a return to Peninsular Malaysia due to a critical shortage of religious teachers, especially in the state.

He said Sabah and Sarawak would be their “medan dakwah” (Islamic propagation front) and “medan menabur bakti” (place to sow good deeds). Yesterday, Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) expressed alarm over Maszlee’s stand, prompting it to call on the federal government to stop using public servants or teachers to carry out any form of Islamisation in Sabah and Sarawak.

Movement for Change Sarawak (MoCS) followed that up by describing Maszlee as being “unfit to be a minister”. Today, Parti Keadilan Rakyat Women vice president Voon Shiak Ni chided Maszlee for making a statement that does not go down well with Sarawakians and advised him to retract it immediately. Sarawak Patriot Association (SPA), on the other hand, said it was shocked to hear what Maszlee had said and wondered why he was using religious teachers to do something that was not in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah also commented that Maszlee must tread carefully on this subject so that what was spoken would not be misinterpreted or cause unease among the people. When contacted, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) deputy president Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum said Maszlee should either apologise or relinquish his post for his major blunder that had caused much tension in Sarawak. “I concur with the calls by individuals and NGOs in Sarawak that if the minister is worth the position, he should either apologize or withdraw from the post,” said Salang to DayakDaily.

Source: DayakDaily